Third period comeback sinks Bruins in Game 6

At 12:11 of the third period in a tie game, Milan Lucic sent the TD Garden into a frenzy with his fourth goal of the series to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead in a do-or-die Game 6. As the clock continued to tick away it looked more and more like Game 7 was a certainty, but the Blackhawks had other ideas.

Two Blackhawks’ goals just 17 seconds apart completed an epic comeback and gave the franchise their second Stanley Cup in four seasons. Bryan Bickell tied things up at two with 1:16 to go in regulation then it was Dave Bolland 17 seconds later to complete the comeback.

“It’s a tough way to lose, tough way to lose a game, tough way to lose a series” said Bruins Captain Zdeno Chara who finished the night a minus-1 on 25:29 of ice time.

The Bruins had the game in their hands, but two quick mistakes cost the Bruins a chance at Game 7 and ultimately decided their fate. It’s safe to say the Bruins gave the win to the Blackhawks.

“Yeah I guess so. It felt like we had it, you know?” said Bruins forward David Krejci.

“It feels like we lost it. We had a Game 7 in front of us. It was right there. I felt we played a pretty good game, and we lost it. We just gave it to them, basically.”

It wasn’t the Bruins best game of the series, but it was far from their worst. It seemed that the Bruins had done just enough to pull off the win and force a Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final for the second time in three seasons, but apparently that wasn’t the case.

“We played a really good game the first period” said defensemen Johnny Boychuk. “We could be up 3-0 but we were only up one. They tied it up and Looch [Lucic] scores that big goal. They pulled their goalie and tie it up and we lose.”

For a team that saw their fair share of tough losses during their run to the Stanley Cup Final, this for sure was the most difficult for Claude Julien and his Bruins.

“Well, probably toughest for sure, when you know you’re a little bit over a minute left and you feel that you’ve got a chance to get to a Game 7, and then those two goals go in quickly” said Julien.

It was clear the Bruins were in shock and disappointed after the Bickell goal, and it certainly showed as they couldn’t regroup to prevent Bolland’s winning goal.

“You’re just trying to stay focused, and you’re up, and then you’re kind of in shock” said Tyler Seguin who picked up an assist on Chris Kelly’s first period tally.

“I felt the feeling when Washington scored the overtime goal [2012 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals] in our building, but you just don’t see that stuff coming. I don’t know what to say about it.”

Yes you can say the Bruins gave the game away, but you can easily say the Blackhawks earned it. The Hawks could have packed it in after the Lucic goal, but the ‘Hawks kept coming and coming and eventually did enough to get two more pucks past Rask.

“You never know what can happen so you don’t stop playing till the end. This is a nice finish, not having to go back [for Game 7] to Chicago” said Blackhawks Captain Jonathan Toews.

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